Posts Tagged ‘Indie’
So Bloody So Tight
Sunny Day in Glasgow comes out with one of the closest things to a hippie’s dream that you can see in hd.
Sun Hands by Local Natives
What I love about folk music is its ability tweak and bend melodies into something very catchy and beautiful. Well the band Local Natives have that same ability and match it with a rock/dance style. The latest edition to the ultra cool label Frenchkiss have put out the single Sun Hands and it’s a really good example of their sound. I’ve had a listen through their album and it’s a real treat, check them out.
Listen:
Interview With The Virgins via LOOKBOOK.nu
When Rich Girls came out there was not a person out there that didn’t have that song stuck in their head. My professors had it on their iPods, the kids I worked with were singing it, and lyrics were on at least a third of my friends Facebook status updates. While everyone was waiting for The Strokes to come back The Virgins took over and became THE example of New York rock and roll. With catchy hooks and a sound and attitude that led back to their influences from 70’s clubs like CBGB and Max’s Kansas City. Their self titled album has been critically acclaimed and their live shows have gathered a large following. With such a great fan base I wanted to open up the chance to have their fans ask some questions so I teamed up with the culturally defining site LOOKBOOK.nu to let their community conduct the interview. Music and fashion have always gone hand in hand and is a large part of what Letter to Jane is all about. I’d like to thank Nick Ackerman from The Virgins and Andy and Yuri at LOOKBOOK.nu for helping make a great contribution to our ongoing Artist Interview Series.
If you could meet anyone in the world dead or alive who would it be and what would say to them? – Sasha S.
Wow, so many people. Maybe Van Gogh or James Jamerson or someone else who died unknown and penniless just to tell them how important to the world they’ve become. Or maybe Cleopatra or Helen of Troy to see if I (a modern man) would find them as beautiful as they we’ve mythologized them to be.
What bands, past or present, are strong influences or give great inspiration to the music you all make together? – Chris F.
We love so many bands and listen to so much music but the main picks would be: The Rolling Stones, The Faces, Neil Young, Chuck Berry, The New York Dolls, David Bowie, and The Wu-Tang Clan. All the basics really.
Do you think music can be used to create and effect wider social change? Are all of the genres and styles of music that branched off from each other in the 20th century making a reunification in sounds, and a fusion of different types of music? Are the Virgins a part of this? – Ellis D.
Can music make a difference? Sure. Of course a human thought or a human idea has the potential to make people see the world differently and therefore initiate social change blah blah blah, whether its in a speech, a law, or a song. Although it occurring in music in any substantial way is an extremely rare phenomenon. It’s happened with Robert Johnson, Elvis, Dylan, The Sex Pistols, Grandmaster Flash and Mellie Mel and that’s about it.
And, Yes I do feel that in 2009 genres are less defined and more fluid than ever before; which is great. Its exciting to see people blending Motown with electronica or Folk music with punk rock. We definitely enjoyed a lot of genre mixing on this first record.
What has been your favorite concert you’ve given so far? – Veronica G.
We’ve been very lucky to be given the opportunity to play some crazy and amazing shows. But I think our favorite will always be a benefit concert we played for the saint mark’s church which is on the block we live. The whole city turned up and it was like a mini festival in the courtyard and then us and a bunch of our friend’s bands played in the church and it was mayhem. I remember being up there and literally thinking “this is the most fun I’ve ever had in my life.”
Does image play an important role in your band & do you believe your style should be just as relevant as your music? – Bombs
Style is a obviously a huge part of rock and roll but to us, writing good songs is our job; that’s why we’re a band. After being “in public” for a couple of years now we’ve learned that we have very little control over our “image.” Listeners, the press, bloggers, and promoters basically decide who we “really are” and we don’t have the time or the inclination to go around correcting misconceptions. So I guess the answer to that question is no.
In your song Fernando Pando, the lyrics say “kids I used to know that died now they’re not around I wonder what they think of life when they’re looking down.” Was there any personal inspiration for this beautiful lyric and what do you actually think they would gather from the lives we lead now? Do you think they would feel ashamed or proud of our generation? – Bethany G.
Well all three of us have lost young friends. Its something that is very hard to wrap your brain around: that this interesting, pretty girl or this amazing energetic guy that you loved has just vanished. In my opinion, when Donald asks “I wonder what they think of life when they’re looking down” it’s less of a literal question and more of a fantasy of his that they actually are “up there looking down” instead of just simply gone. The real question I think he’s asking is “what the hell happened to my friends? Where are they?”
Aside from music, do you have any other creative talents? If so, do you feel that your other interests help you to make better music? – Ella W.
I don’t know about other talents but certainly other interests. We all love visual art and novels and movies and I think that plays a huge part in who we are and the music we make.
What comes first for you, music or lyrics? How much input does each member of the band have when writing? – Sandy R.
We don’t really have a set song-writing formula. Songs will come from a riff one of us has come up with or a concept or a lyric or a jam. But Donald writes all of the lyrics. He keeps a notebook that he’s always writing in. Once we have something interesting musically he’ll then provide the lyrics.
If you could only listen to one song, watch one movie, and eat one dish of food for the rest of your life, what would you choose? – Janny P.
Ugh. That’s an impossible question to answer. You’d get sick do death of any choice. So I guess I’ll say Days of Heaven for my movie; The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down by The Band, and an amazing Cheeseburger.
How did you decide on the name ‘The Virgins’? – Elsa F.
We wanted a very simple name that was fun and ambiguous.
(The Virgins are a rock band from NYC, you can find more out about them at their website)
Listen:
Playlist #14
It’s been a long since I put up a playlist. Well with me struggling with this cold it seemed like the perfect time to share what’s in current rotation.
(For some reason the Cudi song isn’t loading but it’s there, just right click on the link and open in a new window, sorry)
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Falling Over
The Depreciation Guild – Darklooming
Interview With Peter Bjorn and John
(Click image to zoom in)
So here I am in this small music hall in NE Portland waiting for Peter Bjorn and John to come on stage. I wasn’t sure what I was about to see. I had seen them perform on TV and Youtube, but that doesn’t really mean much, and no matter how good they looked on the screen, the fact is that they’re taking a break from their national tour with Depeche Mode to play for us in the Hawthorne District on a Tuesday, not the most inspired of nights. After a while they quietly walked on stage and performed one of the greatest shows I had ever seen. It was a wake up call to what I had been used to seeing at rock concerts. It’s rare these days to be able to see a band with this much polish and talent, so close and up front. This could have been one of those shows where they could just phone it in. After all this is a pretty small market for a band that became pop culture sensations with their hit “Young Folks” and have quite a vocal fan club of A-list celebrities including Kanye West, Drew Barrymore, The Ting Tings, and so on. Well I found out that night that Peter Bjorn and John isn’t a typical band and treated this night and all of us in the room as if we were all on the A-list. It was this same generosity and kindness that I found when I was talking with the band after the show. It was a real pleasure to photograph the band and to be able to discuss in depth with Peter Morèn about the tour, their music (that now fills up a decade), and what the future holds for Peter Bjorn and John.
Hello, I’d like to start out by asking how the tour is going? How has touring with Depeche Mode been so far?
It’s been really good and Depeche’s fans really seem to like us. They dance and cheer!
You guys have such an extensive catalogue now, how much of the lesser-known songs get exposure on tour. Does any material from Seaside Rock get played at shows?
During the opening slots for Depeche we don’t have time to play that many songs, so we focus on “Living Thing” and a couple of older ones. At our own shows obviously the set list is more extensive and eclectic. We play some songs from our first 2, not so well-known albums and quite a few from “Writers Block”, but “Seaside Rock” is hard, since the melodies are built on weird instruments like flutes, saxophones, steel drums and violins rather than vocals. We did one show in Stockholm were we only played “Seaside Rock”, but then we invited some extra musicians and a lot of kids from a local music school, to get the right naive-feel to the set, it shouldn’t be too professional or perfect since we ourselves on the album play stuff that we really can’t master. It was a night to remember! Some people said it was the best we’d ever done, some fans left angry!
Your fourth album Seaside Rock kind of went by the wayside here in the States, but I have to say it is still one of my favorite albums of the past couple years. Were you met with any resistance with releasing what is essentially an instrumental album after the huge pop success of the previous album Writer’s Block?
Thank you! That’s nice to hear. It’s definitively one of my absolute favorites of ours as well. I think a lot of people (including our labels) got confused by that album. But for us it was really important to show everyone that only knew us from “Young Folks” that we were a weird little band that you can’t really pin-point down. We like it like that! Having said that, I think the record is very accessible, listenable, and melodic. It just doesn’t have vocals (it has whistling though!) For us it was really good to get back in the studio after all the touring with “Writers Block” and do something spontaneous and experimental without a lot of expectations. Just playing around in the studio. It also was really influential on “Living Thing”, some of the more rhythmical reggae/funk things. Also we paid tribute to our hometowns by including narratives in local Swedish dialects that not even Stockholders can understand. On “Eriks Fishing Trip” my grandfather tells a fishing tale.
Living Thing really seems to showcase each individual’s tastes and influences on each track while still feeling cohesive. I read that you guys made mix tapes for each other at the beginning of production. How did that process help set the tone?
It was really helpful to create a frame around the songs and a cohesive feeling to the record. We all write separately and then get together to arrange and produce the songs, so a lot can change and happen with a song after that first draft. We make PBJ-songs rather than just a Peter-song or John-song. But as you said we have different styles and tastes. I was worried putting together these mix cds, thinking we would all clash and want to do different records, but we all put on things that fitted well together. There was a lot of 80’s music from our childhood, like some synth (Depeche was on there! OMD too!) And mainstream acts like Paul Simon and Fleetwood Mac. So we really strayed towards something more hi-fi, sparkling champangy, retro-futuristic sci-fi and those effects they used at that time that made the music sound more glamorous. But there was also a lot of African percussion music, Brazilian 70’s pop, some rockabilly, reggae and funk and new wave and early hip-hop, and I think you can hear it all in there. It’s all about the sound and arrangement. Two of the songs we wrote during “Writers Block”. “I Want You” then sounded very much like The Shins and “It Don’t Move Me” like a mid-60’s Kinks song (like “Til The End Of The Day”), since we were in a more classic guitar pop-frame of mind then I reckon. At the same time it was the less-is-more approach of “Young Folks”, “The Chills” and “Amsterdam” that kind of set the minimalist direction for this album. They are all more drum and bass-driven than the rest of “Writers Block” and almost has no guitar. So it was just a continuation of that, which makes it weird when people say that “Living Thing” must be a chock to “Young Folks” fans, when actually its much closer to “Young Folks” then most of the “Writers Block” songs or the albums that came before. There is also a lot of guitar on “Living Thing” it’s just played in a more rhythmical, less conventional way; influenced by soul, funk and African guitar playing.
After all the years you guys have been together, the way you all communicate and collaborate between each other has to have gone through some changes. What are some of those changes and how have they changed the way you guys create?
The biggest change was when John started to write songs during “Writers Block”. That’s when the band became totally democratic. Before that, me and Bjorn wrote the songs, Bjorn produced, I sang, and John drummed. Now we all write, all sing (even though I still sing 80 %), and all produce and play all kinds of stuff. It makes for really unique music, but it can also be stressful and hard on relationships. That’s why we need our solo projects and that’s why we will hire an outside producer for our next album. But it’s great that we are not locked into a classic rock-band format. We are on stage, which is great, but in the studio it’s better to be playful and swap around instruments and ideas.
From listening to the very clever song, “Blue Period Picasso” I wondered what other mediums influenced the band’s music?
I’m glad you like it! Based on a true experience, (wink). Anything inspires us really, mostly relationships and everyday life’s pros and cons. But we all like a good art museum now and then. Movies. I used to study film earlier. Reading. Anything attached with words inspires me and makes me want to write. Walking in new places and cities. Checking out architecture. As you see, anything and everything!
Could you give us some idea of what the next couple of years hold in store for Peter Bjorn and John? Whether it is solo or group projects?
In the near future, at least 4 more shorter tours for “Living Thing” in the fall and spring, in Europe, the States and maybe Australia. Next year we will hopefully put out an ep with some great songs we started during “Living Thing” but didn’t finish, and we are talking about the next album as well. As I said, outside producer for the first time. It’s gonna be more punky, back to the power-pop roots, that’s the idea anyway, we’ll see what happens. I have a new project with some Swedish friends called Tutankamon. We will put out an album in October, but just in Scandinavia for now. I’m also working on my second solo album. It will be in Swedish, so it’s a very different project from everything else I’ve done so far, but I’m very excited by it. It sounds sometimes a bit folky, sometimes like vintage soul, Stax/Motown, very groovy! But in Swedish! I also have started to write some songs for and with other artists but nothing is released yet. Bjorn also writes for others and continues producing for other artists, like the next Lykke Li record. John has his solo project Hortlax Cobra and also plays with the very good band Holiday For Strings that have a new record coming soon I think.
Very quickly I wanted to ask you about the music videos for Living Thing. They are very unique and definitely fit the sense of humor that’s on the album. Could you give us some background on the thought process or early ideas that became these great videos?
We didn’t want to participate in the videos ourselves, and we wanted to incorporate weird dancing in all of them. “Lay It Down” is directed by our friend Sandra Fröberg and we wanted it to look like a high school disco in a basement in the 80’s, with a VHS-look to it. The creepy part is all the dancers are wearing masks of our faces with different make up and hair. That makes it both very creepy and funny. “Nothing To Worry About” was directed by Andreas Nilsson while on a trip to Tokyo. He saw these greaser-biker-gangs dancing to rockabilly in the parks during the weekend and thought it was a great idea to make a mini-documentary about them. “It Don’t Move Me” was also done by Andreas and follows Markus who is a 16-year-old Michael Jackson fan from Gothenburg, who dances like his idol. When we did the video we had no idea Michael would pass away so soon, so that’s a bit creepy. We brought Markus on stage with us for a Swedish festival and the crowd loved him.
(Peter Bjorn and John are a rock band from Stockholm Sweden. You can find out more about the band by checking out their website or Myspace)
Listen:
Peter Bjorn and John – It Don’t Move Me
LOOKBOOK.nu x The Virgins x Letter to Jane
UPDATE:
I just got word that everything is a go. You can view LOOKBOOK.nu’s post here.
Or you can just view the text below, please spread the word:
Our friends at Letter to Jane, a blog that covers fashion and music culture, will be interviewing indie super group The Virgins, whose hits “Rich Girls” “One Week of Danger” and “Private Affair” took pop culture by storm and now they want to talk to you!
Letter to Jane along with LOOKBOOK.nu have set up to have The Virgins answer questions by the LB community. The interview will be published on Letter to Jane. If your question is used, it will feature your name and a link to your LB profile next to your question.
Here’s how it works: Either leave a comment with your questions or email Tim from Letter to Jane timpmoore [at] gmail [dot] com
If you send an email be sure to include your name and a link to your LB profile and be sure to put “LB INTERVIEW” in the subject line.
Not all questions may be used, but we will try to include as many as possible.
The deadline to submit questions is September 7th, so hurry! :)
Previous Post:
I thought it would be a good time to inform you of an upcoming event around here. The greatest fashion community online LOOKBOOK.nu has teamed up with Letter to Jane to have the indie supergroup, The Virgins answer your questions. The only catch is that you got to be a member of LOOKBOOK.nu. Members will be able to leave questions for the band and have them answered along with the members name and link to their profile featured in the interview. I will update when all the final details are sorted out and the period to send in questions open. There will be a post on LOOKBOOK.nu as well when everything is ready so stay alert and don’t forget to participate. With your help this can be a very fun and interesting project.
Listen:
Interview With No Age
We all have the conversation with friends…who’s the better band. One person will argue how this person is more talented, and another will argue how nobody can play that instrument like they do. Then one person brings up the “it factor” and everyone shuts up. It ruins every debate, it can’t be fully described and it can’t be denied, some people just have “it.” The common misconception is that the ones where creativity comes easy, live life easy, where they sit around and let genius come to them while everyone else does the work. That may happen somewhere, but I’ve never heard of it. As Dean Spunt of No Age said it in the interview below, “The easier it gets, the harder we work,” and they do work hard. No Age’s fame has been skyrocketing since their release of their sophomore album, Nouns in 2008. Their beautiful blend of punk rock put them on top of every critic’s top lists, getting press from every top publication, and even a Grammy nomination for their amazing 68 page, full color booklet that came with the cd. With all that success the band still has the same DIY mindset they always had. They book the shows, they drive themselves, they make shirts, posters, etc. For all their success, it is only equal to the amount of work they put into their craft and it shows. Members Dean Spunt and Randy Randall are just as well known for their music as they are for their honesty about their views and their craft. Whether or not you like their music, they are a band where you cannot deny their “it factor.” Their work ethic and attitude is a model for all creative people to learn from which is why I was so grateful for Dean Spunt to be able to take some time away from their busy tour to do an interview.
Hello, Last I checked, you guys just finished playing in Japan, how were the shows? What kind of venues did you play?
The trip was epic. We played two shows one in Tokyo, and the other in Osaka. The venues were pretty normal rock type venues, but very cool. It seemed difficult to go the DIY route; it translates different over there.
You guys always seem to play at these great locations when you tour. For instance, whenever you come to Portland it seems that your show is at some really cool place that I didn’t know about and I’m from the area. How do you guys find these places, or decide where to play (like playing by rivers, bridges, etc)?
We try and do our research, ask around and see what the fun place is, or the unexplored. That whole process is more fun for us and we hope more fun for people in the audience. It is a balance of trying to keep pushing boundaries but also not being too exclusive so that the dude working in an office that likes us can see us play as well as the punker.
At shows you’re well known for your accessibility. Because of that I assume you must get more demo cd’s from fans than most bands. Do you have the time to listen to all of that music and are there any of those acts I should know about?
Wow, yeah I never thought why, but we do get a lot of demos and stuff. We try and listen to all of it, there is a lot of good stuff out there and I always encourage people to make demos. It is a long leap from making music to making a demo, so that is pretty awesome. Well, I got a WAVVES demo in my mailbox one day, a long time ago… a band MARIA was good… a lot of good stuff.
When I was younger I remember one of the biggest things about concerts was the build up and expectation of seeing a band. When you were a teenager, what were you hoping for when you went to a concert? Do you think you live up to that at your shows?
I would hope so, or even more. Like, we think about that stuff all the time, putting on a good show, it gets a little difficult with just two of us because there is so much we want to do, it gets a little hectic. But yeah, we try to live up to the image in our heads. When I was a kid I was just in awe of anyone on stage, or when I was 16 and went to The Smell for the first time, on the floor.
I know you know this but No Age has some of the best fans I’ve ever seen, the only reason I got into your music is because of your fans insisting that I needed to, and they were right. Weirdo Rippers was great and I think Nouns is a masterpiece. What are some of the grandest gestures your fans have shown you?
Thanks, that is great to hear. Fans are always coming up and telling us how our records are so good, and the shows, and actually people have turned vegan because of reading interviews we did… it is very flattering and we are still getting used to it. People have made us vegan cookies, let us sleep on their floors, got a pinata made for us etc.
Is there new music on the way?
Yes. Currently we are finishing mixing our new EP that will come out in September, and also recording for the new LP that will come out early 2010. I am so excited about the new songs. Also we are scoring a movie called “The Bear” at the Seattle International Film Festival and also at the ICA Museum in Boston, those will be primarily sample based live shows, but we are going to record it, so perhaps that will come out too. ALSO I had this other limited 12″ idea series, but I wont go too deep into that, but yes, more shit coming and more interesting ideas to push it all forward.
What are some things now that influence your music or your process that weren’t present before Nouns? Or has your mindset stayed relatively the same?
Um… I would say the mindset has been pretty similar. Always looking to make fun and interesting music. The main difference is that we are getting to be better musicians, for better or for worse… Trying to really conquer but stay simple.
Ok, to end the interview I want to change it up a little. One of the reasons I wanted to do this interview is because your attitude towards your art. Unlike a lot people who say one thing and do another, you guys have become famous for just saying what you do. You have found success by creating what you wanted and being honest with your fans. I wanted to ask you some questions from my position as a young artist, still making the transition from college to professional life. A lot of my readers (self included) are young, creative professionals who have to learn the ropes kind of on the fly without much access to advice. I want to stop asking you questions as No Age but just as guys who were able to make their work into a success.
Well, as an artist it is important to just make and create. So many times I meet people who ask us about making music or art and asking us how to get started in music and that should never be a question. You just start. Make as much as you can so you get good at your craft and just go from there and don’t stop. The avenues, whatever they are will open themselves up to you, but get out there and do your thing super hard. We ate slept and breathed No Age from the inception. I made art posters, text and silkscreened and shirts long before our first show, I had no money so I stole the photocopies and did as much stuff for free as I could and didn’t want money, because money is what makes us lazy. It is funny our first show we made our own shirts and sold them for $3. I was just proud of the design and wanted people to have them and gave them out, just exercising the ideas and creating and practicing. Our first thing was a DVD-R with video art kinda stuff, you know, we just kept running and making stuff and never questioned it. If we thought it was good, then it was good ya know? You have to believe in your thing more than anyone.
One of the biggest things I had to learn out of college was effective self-promotion, getting my product into the right hands. What kind of strategies did you have in the beginning? How much did having a community like The Smell help?
We used design strategies at first; text being so universal is essentially the best tool, and understanding the needs and wants of our audience. Like for instance, shirts are kind of whatever, ya know? Just cotton, BUT kids love them, fans love them. So we decided to flip it around and just use huge text, like an obvious NO – NO to most people IS self promotion, it can be easily misread as being desperate, but we used it to our advantage… it seemed fairly obvious to me because you buy a shirt from a band you love to show off that you like them, so it just made sense. Another thing was after the DVD we wanted to put out the 5 ep’s and the idea behind that was these songs, we recorded 20 or so, were too many as a record and didn’t work as one piece, but broken up into sections they were more powerful and a step further was getting five different labels to release them. This made a bigger impact because it was 5 small releases all over the world instead of one record in one part. So ideas are the most important thing, and then having good art to back it up, a win-win combo.
Half of my day is spent working with special needs children. One of the things I like about working with kids is that I don’t have to think about me or my career for a while, I kind of get to live life at their pace which is at a different rhythm from mine and it’s really taught me how to manage my time and not get caught up in things. Now that you are in the music business full time, how do you find your breaks? How do you find ways to manage your time and refresh?
Well, this is my life; I am here all day every day. I do take vacations and days without the computer and cell phone and stuff, but music and ideas are always there, I won’t take a vacation from them.
My younger brother is a special needs kid, and when I was younger I managed a baseball team for special kids, it is still one of the biggest accomplishments in my life, so kudos to you.
I’m approaching the point where I can be a full time artist and it’s very exciting but I’ve been cautious about it because I feel like the transition should feel more organic than it does. I know transitions are different for everyone, but I was wondering if you could describe that transition from having a day job to being able to make a life out of art and music?
Well, I definitely do more work now than I ever have before. When I had a job I just did music every moment I wasn’t working, now I run a label and do the band full time, and I am always working, but I love it, I love to work. It is awesome to get to do the stuff I love and make money at it, but Randy and I were talking about this just yesterday as we were driving home from the airport. The easier it gets, the harder we work, and we are at this point because we work hard; because we silk-screen the posters, book the tickets, drive ourselves to the airport, we manage ourselves ya know? We just try and work as hard as we can because we love to, and we work cheaper than anyone else we know, ha ha.
You are involved in a lot of other things besides music. You have your hands in fashion, art, design, etc. You get to see and work with a lot of different creative types. What do you think the great ones that you’re around and influence you have in common?
I have noticed that most people we really like to work with have a similar work ethic, and love for what they do. Like Brian Roettinger, who we collaborate on design stuff with, we can easily sit there for 12 hours messing with stuff, the ideas never stop ya know? Working with Altamont on catalogs and clothing stuff is fun for us as well; we get to exercise that part of our brain.
What mistakes do you often see people make when trying to find success?
Just that, trying to find success instead of trying to make mistakes, we like to make mistakes so we can learn how to fix them.
Ok well the last question is kind of random but right before I started this I heard that some old punk legends like John Doe from the band X has an album of country covers out and Iggy Pop is releasing an album of jazz covers. What American music tribute will you do when you get old?
Ha, well I can’t say for certain, maybe the American Noise Scene, that
Would be a fun concept record.
Well thank you for taking the time to do this and let me know the next time No Age is in Portland, I’d love to buy you guys a drink, some falafels, take some photos and enjoy your show.
Thanks man, keep it up.
(No Age is a rock band from Los Angeles California. You can find out more about them by checking out their Myspace page and their blog)
Listen to tracks from No Age:
Playlist #11
This is my fun in the sun mix. I’m not a normal person, I know, but I when the weather is good I like to be outside and let guitar fuzz and distortion zone me out. Leave the other upbeat stuff for the parties, this is what relaxes me, (honestly). Besides, you can find tons of other kinds of stuff in the MUSIC section. Also since lo-fi is becoming so popular again I decided to include a small history lesson in here with The Vaselines, My Bloody Valentine, and The Jesus and Mary Chain.
The Vaselines – Son of a Gun
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Come Saturday
The Jesus and Mary Chain – The Hardest Walk
Wavves – No Hope Kids
Art Brut – Slap Dash for No Cash
Jarvis Cocker – Pilchard
My Bloody Valentine – When You Sleep
No Age – Here Should Be My Home
Jarvis Cocker: Further Complications
“And if I could though, I would refrigerate this moment” was the exact feeling I had when Jarvis Cocker spoke those words on the ultra-mellow track, Slush, from Cocker’s new album, Further Complications. The indie legend has always had the gift of transforming his sound while always still being true to himself. A Jarvis Cocker song always sounds like a Jarvis Cocker song, but the sounds are never the same it seems, it’s quite amazing feat throughout a career as long as Cocker’s. He is himself, usually a love it or hate it type of guy and so is his music it either grabs you or it doesn’t. For those that are on the fence then I would hope that the man’s songwriting ability would lead over to fandom. His words are mature, clever, and very well crafted with a great delivery.
On Cocker’s last album, there was a heavy synth influence that was very polished and subdued. He spoke a lot more on that album about anything and every and made the entire album entertaining for me. With Further Complications he has that great lyricism back on songs like Angela and Caucasian Blues, but he has chosen to give a much more raw, lo-fi guitar sound. He has dropped the synths for his guitar and created something that goes from pop to ambient to glam to punk. He starts the album being playful to giving a sound that just gets angrier and angrier till he’s screaming at the top of his lungs towards the end. The album’s producer, Steve Albini from Nirvana and Pixies fame I’m sure brought a lot of Cocker’s rougher side out on this record.
When Cocker’s solo record, Jarvis, came out I have to be honest I was very lukewarm about it. Then one day I was on a road trip and let the album just play and enjoy it and after that it became one of my favorites, you know one of those play it everyday, five times a day, kind of albums. Oddly enough, I was on a road trip this weekend and allowed Further Complications to play without interruptions and the exact same thing happened. I haven’t had this music for even a week yet and I’ve already played through this album at least ten times. There are few musicians out there right now who have intelligence and maturity and know how to take those traits and make them attractive musical qualities. Further Complications delivers a wit and charm that I wish I could see more.
Listen to:
Lady Gaga vs. Katy Perry
For some reason, I don’t know why, a lot of you come here looking for Lady Gaga and there isn’t that much of her here. Well as I was joking with some people on twitter yesterday, I decided to open up the debate of who is your favorite alt girl of the moment. I chose a title with the two biggest names but have also opened it up to include M.I.A., Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Alice Glass from Crystal Castles, and Lilly Allen. I know this is a bit silly but I wanted something fun on here before I take a break for the weekend. So what’s your pic and why? (Mine’s Karen O by the way)
Lady Gaga
Katy Perry
Alice Glass
Karen O
Lilly Allen
M.I.A.
Playlist #9
I used to make mix tapes in middle school for girls as an awkward way to get closer to them and try and ask them out. I haven’t done that in a while so I picked somebody at random from lookbook.nu. I love this pic, but I’m sorry mystery hipster girl, this playlist isn’t really geared toward you, it’s what’s on my iphone as I get ready to do a photo shoot today, still though, you’re a little impressed right? Either way I’m impressed by your style, keep it up.
(ps to Letter of Jane readers – It’s been terrific weather and I’m in a weird mood, live with it)
Charles Hamilton – Barbara Walters
Clipse ft Kanye West – Kinda Like a Big Deal
Chester French: Love the Future
Well it’s finally here, one of the most talked about bands, who are better known for how well connected they are, finally have released their debut album, Love the Future. The band’s previous releases were their heavily Sixties retro single She Loves Everybody and the then their Hip Hop mix tape Jacques Jam Vol. 1 leaving me guessing what blend of both extremes this obviously versatile band would debut. Love the Future is an addictive blend of past influences that are reminiscent of Donovan, The Buggles, and a Sophia Coppola film thrown in their for good measure. There are too many genres and sounds displayed on this album that it’s futile to list, all you need to know is that they blend seamlessly with each other which is enjoyable for the casual listener as well as the detail obsessive critic like myself. With so many sub-par hipster bands flooding the Indie Rock scene, when an album like this comes along it gives you that feeling like your vision has come back when you didn’t know you lost it in the first place. There are way too many people getting attention that look unique but their sound and their words blend into the mediocrity of the culture, but Chester French are larger than life and have released a quality product that reminds me why I look forward to new music. Love the Future fills a void that has been left vacant since every band decided to try and copy Justice’s success. That sound is fine and I love it but what I think a lot of people forgot is that there is an honesty in music, and not every sound fits everyone. Chester French know their skill and profession and have made one of the best debut albums I have heard in a long time. All the rumors, hype, fuss, and anticipation has paid off and if they have become this big without an album out yet, there is going to be nothing stopping these guys this summer.
Listen to C’mon (On My Own) From Love the Future
Listen to Life in LA From Jacques Jams Vol. 1
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Daytrotter Sessions
I find it amazing that some people still don’t know about Daytrotter. Always great music and articles. It’s one of the best places to hear new artists or a new sound from your current favorite. Their latest session is with one of my favorites for the past couple years, Stephen Malkmus. I would highly suggest making your way over there and checking it out for a good write up. I’m including one of the songs here, but go over there where you can download them for free.
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – Vanessa From Queens
Playlist #7
This play list is made out of necessity for me this time. I’ve always personally fought hard with bouts of high anxiety which leads to very frustrating insomnia. A lot of times people ask me how I know so many bands and the answer is simple, I have a lot of time to listen to music when I’d rather be sleeping and normal. So this collection is mainly what I’ve been surrounding myself with this week to keep me sane and happy, (how could you not be happy with a song like Rod Stewart-Young Turks?) Some old, some new, I didn’t dig that deep in the library this time but whatever it puts a smile on my face. It’s funny when I’m down I make very positive things.
The track list is:
Jeremy Jay – We Were There/ Passion Pit – Live to Tell the Tale/ Rod Stewart – Young Turks/ The Whitest Boy Alive – Keep A Secret/ Arctic Monkeys – A Certain Romance/ Albert Hammond Jr. – In Transit/ Peter Doherty – 1939 Returning/ Nico – These Days.
(iphone users: click song title to play song)
Passion Pit – Live to Tell the Tale
The Whitest Boy Alive – Keep A Secret
Arctic Monkeys – A Certain Romance
Albert Hammond Jr. – In Transit
Peter Doherty – 1939 Returning
Julie Doiron – I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day
As hard as I can try I’ll never be able to be a hipster/scenester/etc. I like all the latest styles and sounds, I was rocking No Age and Waaves before it was cool. I got the Justice/Crystal Castles/pointless dance duos on lock as well. Unfortunately I only have those because I like music a lot and not because it give me any cool points. I know I was raised a bit different than most coming from a very talented musical family my early childhood was late era Miles Davis and experimental flute suites with classic rock and some current pop mixed in. When I took music serious I grabbed towards classic rock but not the usual road that most take. I attached myself to early punk like I was an infant. It was through the eclectic nature of that scene that I found a lot more music ranging from jazz and blues to country and techno. The Ramones led way to Television to Patti Smith to Blondie, to Talking Heads to every other degenerate group from the 70’s and 80’s and then throughout the last hundred years. So when I pick up music today and I look at what is a new Indie record I want to say I got it because it was the cool thing to do but the fact of the matter is that I’m a culture nerd and I’m attracted to great music that brings back all those old sonic references I crave.
My egotistical rant brings me to my latest find of Julie Doiron’s latest album I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day. I found it labeled under Indie folk which fits Doiron’s voice but the mix of maturity and raw emotional presence makes this music expand to many more genres. Her sing song voice runs aimlessly through the audio mazes she’s set up for herself on this album. Heavy guitars mixed in with sweet but blunt lyrics, pulsing drums mixed lazy distortion. Doiron creates a texture in music that I don’t get to hear too often. If I could mix Andrew Bird and Stephen Malkmus you could get close but still not there. I could keep trying to create confusing, poetic metaphors to describe the album but I think it’s better if I let the music speak for itself. Doiron might not be what you like but it has to be apparent that even though she might get stuck in an Indie category she is not cashing in on the trends. This is strong, personal, flat out great music. I have not heard an album in a long time that brought me back to those first times when I heard the Velvet Underground or Richard Hell, a beautiful blend of soft words and harsh sounds.
Here are a few highlights from the album:
Spill Your Lungs:
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Loves of the World:
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Borrowed Minivans:
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Learning how to make “Beautiful Music”
Last night was a release party for the album Beautiful Music by Luck-One and Dekk. It was a project that I was heavily involved in and it took me until last night to realize how much the project had influenced me.
Back in September I got a call from my friend Bruke asking me to do some photography for some friends of his. I’d never met them and the money wasn’t great, but Bruke is a good friend and I didn’t have much going on so I drove up to meet Brian Dekker (the producer) and Hanif Collins a.k.a. Luck-One (Emcee). I didn’t realize it at the time but this was the first time any of us had met each other face to face. I hung out with them all day as they recorded the first two tracks for their new album collaboration. It was a lot of fun but uneventful for myself and I didn’t think about it too much for the next couple of weeks. Then Bruke came back and got me heavily involved in and from then on it was off. Brian and I quickly became friends and a production team together. Before I knew it, I was a part of the project without really knowing what to do. So I helped in whatever fashion I could by giving advice and direction, production, and engineering a little bit. By the end of it, I feel its safe to say everyone had a bitter taste in their mouth about this project. There was a lot of miscommunication on how certain business would be handled, time tables fell through, and there was a constant battle at what direction the project should go.
When it came to the art for the project I found it especially frustrating for no particular reason. The day of the photo shoot, I was rushed, there was a lot of miscommunication, and to make it worse my equipment was breaking. Like everything else there was a friendly but still apparent power struggle which just added to the stress of the technical difficulties. However, after a constant back and forth everything was finished and it was off to be published. There was a good month of waiting between the end of the project and last night for everyone to catch their breath and evaluate things. What we all agreed on is that their is a beautiful cohesion to Beautiful Music, and after all that’s been said and done, all of us worked hard and were rewarded with a great product. It might not be what any single person wanted a 100% but their is a collective of influences that add to the project. The music is clear and cohesive, and the artwork brings it all together. There was a relief to see success, and to see a level of respect between everyone.
At the beginning of this project their was no music and a bunch of strangers. Now friendships, three careers, two companies, and one album exist. I have nothing but great things to say to everyone involved in it and I would just like to thank them all for letting me be a part of it. I think we all proved that we can disagree at times but still keep a level of camaraderie and respect for one another to make a great product. A side note might also be that because of this project I also became friends with Brian’s girlfriend Randa who for months now been my goto model and photographic partner and has helped me reach new audiences with her talent which I am very grateful for.
-Tim
The album is available for free by clicking the album cover below, if you want to hear a conscious hip-hop meets electronic dance style then maybe give it a try:
Here are some more pics from last night’s events:
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Easily one of the best albums I have heard in a long time is the self-titled album by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Their album has an energy that is incredibly familiar without feeling old, fresh and experimental without becoming alienating. Too often a band comes along where I’m expected to buy into the hype because they’re getting a buzz and lo-fi, but being on the edge doesn’t make up for being able to make a good song. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have created some of the best melodies I have heard in recent years and blend them with whatever the sonic equivalent of dreams, gossip, and flirting is. The album is pure emotion that is backed by careful crafted sounds that range anywhere from The Ramones and My Bloody Valentine, to the classic pop days of Phil Spector or The Nuggets collection of the 60’s. There are songs that if played at the right time will make you want to fall in love, or escape from society, or some movie cliche that never happens in life but for some reason keeps driving us to search for that feeling in life. All of their songs capture that energy of success before your brain has had time to fully process everything. This is that sound that I believe is going to flood the scene in the next coming years, but they’ve done it better than anybody else coming up and will probably beat albums in the future. Please make no mistake, this album is not a part of some fad or latest flavor, this is a solid effort by a solid band.
-Tim
Here is their music video for the song “Everything with You”
Dance Like a Hipster Should
I can’t believe I released an EP and never posted it here. Released in October 2008, “Dance Like a Hipster Should” by Tim Wrote a Song.
To download the album (for free), click on the album cover.
She’s a Mindreader
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Take My Hand
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Every Little Thing
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Basically What I’m Saying is…
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Dance Like You’re Ringo
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Look What I Found
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Indie’s Biggest Problem: STYLE
I have a really bad habit when it comes to listening to new music, I instantly compare it to old music. I do not mean to belittle any new music or stick to the call that music sucks compared to old music. It is simply that it’s the easiest way to describe a new song to someone. We live in a trivial world, literally. Be honest, there is no greater joy out of learning a fun fact from a Snapple cap than reading a book most of the time. It seems these days that I impress more people by winning a game of Trivial Pursuit than by mentioning my college degree.
I myself am stuck in this world of fast facts (or factoids as I hear a lot of people call them), and I can’t help but categorize anything I see or hear as quickly as possible and start comparing something to something else without letting it stand on it’s own credentials. This is because it’s a fast, cheap way to to get to a point and it’s also how most media operates now.
The Indie culture is really not one look or sound, but it’s all based on one common factor: style. Style is cheap no matter how you look at it. It’s a good hook but awfully shallow. Style doesn’t work by making an image to project yourself, it makes a mask to hide yourself from people. Stereotypes come from style and never from the actual person.
So what music was I listening to that made me go off on this rant? Well it was Albert Hammond Jr.’s new album ¿Como te Llama? I know this article so far has sounded completely judgmental and negative but I am actually a big fan of his music and this new album. Everything about it just works and is a welcomed addition to the rock music scene and reminded me of exactly why I do love the Indie music scene, ok well not the scene but definitely the music.
As I listen to the album it is filled with musical and lyrical references to the great glam and proto-punk rockers of the early seventies, David Bowie, Marc Bolan, Lou Reed, Tom Petty, (I also listened to some Richard Hell after this and saw similarities but that would be a very deep but welcomed reference if that did exist). The style of the album of course made me just start referencing everything I could in probably the most annoying way possible, but there was a reason album rose above my own personal audio trivia contest, and that was that Mr. Hammond made sure he came through first. It is very clear in the album that this isn’t about capturing a sound, it’s about creating music, which are two completely different things.
While the sounds might hark back to Lou Reed and David Bowie, there is not one single shred of the attitude that those artists exuded found on this record. The masterful decadence of something like Aladdin Sane made you feel so confident that you should unbutton your top on your shirt and show some skin while this album probably will just want you to throw on a sports jacket. Hammond Jr’s insecurities, shortcomings, fears, and aspirations, a.k.a. himself come through on this album, not some image or slick style. Taking various aesthetics and influences and making them your own is what art is about, taking what you know and using it to express yourself.
That point also became way too apparent when I went to “First Thursday” in Portland a couple of weeks ago, (I live in Oregon for those that are confused by that last comment, First Thursday is when the art galleries present their new collections). It was a very disappointing night to say the least, (the gallery part, hanging out with old friends was most enjoyable). In a growing community of artists that are still on the underground spotlight when it comes to the art world you would think that the displays would have consisted of more work that would be considered to out there for more commercial communities. From what I saw it was just a bunch of kids playing grown-up. A lot of work made to fit an image, that embodied a style and not a concept or purpose. The whole Pearl scene that night just came off shallow and empty. Not all the work was bad and nothing was particularly horrible, it was just so obvious it was made to fit an image instead someone trying to create the best work they possibly could. When the look or sound of something gets in the way of why you’re doing it, the consequences are usually crippling. The people who attended these shows was the most disturbing element of the night by far though. Nobody was talking about the art, (which on second thought, I don’t blame them) or about anything really, they were all just talking about how cool they were. It was a hipster showcase to show how much style they had. I felt like I was going into a singles bar and having to watch everyone try to impress people as hard as they could.
The main talk I heard that night was the usual annoying chant of [insert name] being too mainstream. This made me cringe and I’m not going to go in depth of that subject because it’s just too infuriating. I’ll will just end with this: popularity exists for a reason and while it is tainted by our present day PR system, it should never be a factor in someone’s appreciation in life. Indie is just a style like another, it doesn’t stand for being non-mainstream, it is just an aesthetic. Style is the hollow image that too many people desperately crave and cling to, but it is nothing and will get you nowhere. Now if you need a fast “factoid” way to describe this article, it would go like this, “The popular new album was able to display more artistic value than all the underground artists with their non-corrupted core values could.”
-Tim Moore.
(Photo by Tim Moore, http://www.timothypaulmoore.com)
